Electrochemical amalgamator.



S. S. ROSE. ELECTROCHEMICAL AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAH-25| i915.

Patented June 6,1916.

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WITNESS S. S. ROSE.

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Patented June 6, 1916.

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SAMUEL S. ROSE, OF SAN JGSE, CALIFORNIA.

ELECTROCHEMICAL AMALGAMATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1916.

Application lcd March 25, 1915. Serial N o. 16,948.

To all wlw/m it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. ROSE, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrochemical Amalgamators; and I do declare the following to be a clear, full, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements 1n paraphernalia and structure for amalgamating the precious metals found in talc or similar minerals and is especially designed as a means or structure for carrying out the steps of the process of electro-chemical amalgamation wherein the crushed ores are treated with the mercury in the presence of electricity, the object of the present invention being to produce a simple and efcient means for carrying out such process.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposes for which it is designed. v

These objects, I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of the parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

On the drawings, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts 1n the several views.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the complete amalgamator. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on a line B-B of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detached fragmentary view in section of one of the drag sweepers taken on a line Y-Y of Fig. 1. F ig. 4 is a sectional view of one of the supporting rollers for the drag sweepers taken on a line X-X of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the outlet opening from the amalgamating receptacle illustrating the structure for varying the size of the open- Iteferring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the numeral 1 designates any suitable frame or support for the device on which is suitably .supported the amalgamating receptacle which consists primarily of a central distributing receptacle la having a conicalshaped distributing base 2. The sides of the said member 1a are spaced slightly from the bottom 2 at the lower edge, as at 3, with intermediate supporting feet 4. The mineral delivered into the receptacle 1a passes through the opening 3 into an outer annular chamber or receptacle 5. Projecting inwardly on the upper edges of the member 5 are runways or guides 6. l y

The numeral 7 designates a pulley, adapted to be driven by any Vsuitable source of power, which in turn drives a shaft 8 having on its end a beveled gear 9 meshing with another beveled gear 10 on a vertical shaft 11 secured to which is a pinion 12, the pinion proper being insulated from the shaft 11 against the conduction of the electrical current by means of suitable insulation 13. The pinion 12 intermeshes with an annular internally geared pinion 14 bolted to which are a plurality of frames 15 having a roller 16 journaled in each end, such rollers bearing on the members 6. These said rollers 16 are suitably insulated from the members 15 by means of suitable insulation members 17. On each of the members 15 are a pair of Vdownwardly projecting arms 18, one extending obliquely on one side of its frame 15 and the other on the other side, substantially as shown in Fig. 1. On every third pair of arms 18 is secured a sweeper bar 19 and bolted to the same by means of `rods 20 are drag bars 21 curved at their forward edges, as at 22. On the other arms 18 are secured sweepers 23 having a plurality of teeth 24 along their lower edges. From a source of electrical energy 25, a wire 26 leads to the bottom of the receptacle 5. Secured'to and insulated from the side :wall of the receptacle 1a is a frame 14a which extends upwardly and arches over the member 14 where it is provided with a Y the members 19, thence through the memf bers 19 and 23, thence through the arms 18, frames 15, and :member 14:, roller 1e, bracket 14a, and wire 27 to the source 25, attention being called to the insulation between the rollers 16 and the frames 15 and between the pinion 12 and the shaft 11.

In practice, power' is applied in any suitable manner to the member 7, which, through the connection shown, rotates the member 1l which in turn carries the mem- 'bers 15 with a rotary motion in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1. The pulverized talc, which is previously mixed with a salt to cut its sleek greasy consistency, is fed into the receptacle 1=L where it is equally distributed by the member 2 to flow through the opening 3 into the mem.- ber 5, the bottom of which is suitably covered with Quicksilver. The action of the drag sweeper'19 and its drag 21 is to work and force the pulver-ized talc as close toward the bottom of the member 5 as possible. This operation brings the crushed ores into contact with the mercury in the presence of electricity with results common to the art.

As is well known to those skilled in the art. the precious metals found in the talc, while of a very high grade, are very flaky and the talc itself is so sleek and greasy that it acts as an insulation against amalgamation.- This condition I break up by the addition of the salt to the talc and by the bringing of the mercury into contact with the talc in the presence of electricity. The residue,` left after the amalgamation in the receptacle 1, passes out of an opening 29 at one side of the member 5 and thence over a silver-plated apron 30. The width of this opening can be varied by laying shims 2921, of different lengths, on the top of the lower edge of the opening and securing the same by small screws 29h. In this way, the depth of the mineral in the amalgamating receptacle may be varied accordingly to provide the best efficiency in the amalgamation. The opening 29 extends approximately half way around the circumference of the receptacle 5 and delivers first into a distributing channel 29C, thence to the apron 30.

Due to the fact that the amalgamation takes place in the member 5 while the elements are held in suspension by the action of the electrical current, it is possible that some portion of the amalgam may pass out of the opening 29 and upon the apron 30 with the residue of the mineral, and in order to save this, I provide a counterelectro movement to that which takes place in the amalgamator which is constructed and operates as follows: Above the apron 30. I provide a plate 31 on which are a pluralityY of downwardly depending points 32 arranged slightly obliquely with respect to the horizontal plane of the apron 30. From a. source of electrical energy 33, a wire 34 leads to the plate 31, while a wire leads from the apron 30 back to the source 33. This completes the circuit from the source 33 through the wire 34, through the plate 31, through the points 32, through a jump space 36 between the points 32 and the apron 30, thence through the wire 35, back to the source 33. By means of this electrical current, any amalgam which may be passing over the apron 30 will be moved downwardly into contact with the silver-plated apron 30 with the result that the same is saved from passing with the valueless residue off of said apron.

From the foregoing description it will readily be seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfils the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in de-. tail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice, such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as `do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described, my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A device of the character described comprising the combination with an amalgamating receptacle containing mercury, .of

sweeper bars movable within the receptacle,

.drag bars rearwardly spaced from the sweeper bars and connected therewith, both the sweeper and drag bars being in close proximity to the surface of mercury in the bottom of the receptacle, means for supporting and actuating the sweeper bars, a source of electricity, and connections between the bars and the receptacle to such source of electricity, as described.

2. A device of the character described comprising the combination with an amalgamating receptacle containing mercury, of sweeper bars movable within the receptacle, drag bars rearwardly spaced from the sweeper bars and connected therewith, the forward edges of such drag bars being curved, the curvature of said drag bars being horizontal transversely to the receptacle, both the sweeper and drag bars being in close proximity to the surface of mercury in the bottom of the receptacle, means for supporting and actuating the sweeper bars, a source of electricity, and connections between the bars and the receptacle to such source of electricity, as described.

3. A device of the character described comprising an annular receptacle having inwardly projecting runways on its inner and outer circumference, rollers mounted on said runways, frames mounted on said rollers and insulated therefrom, an internal bearing on said gear, a source of electrical gear secured to said frames, means for drivenergy, Wire connections from said source ing said gear, sWeepers mounted on said of electrical energy to said last named frame 1G frame and movable adjacent the bottom of and from said receptacle to said source of said receptacle, a frame secured to the reelectrical energy, as described.

ceptacle and insulated therefrom and arching over said gear, a roller on said frame SAMUEL S. ROSE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Collinincr o! Intent. Wnhington, D. 0. 

